as years pass | kyoraku shunsui

twelve - 'best friend'

Throughout his life, Shunsui wouldn't say that everything had been easy for him; he'd been given a better start than most, sure, but Shunsui's life had never been the perfect masterpiece that some surely viewed it as.

Shunsui was from a clan of lesser nobility, this much was common knowledge. From a young age, both his mother and father had high hopes for Shunsui, the boy who wanted nothing more than to enjoy the company of those who brought him joy. He was easy to please and despite his mischievous tendencies, Shunsui was extremely bright and his potential seemed to be limitless; that, you see, was a large part of the reason he was forced into becoming a Soul Reaper in the first place. His older brother had flourished as one, so it was only natural that Shunsui follow in his footsteps.

At least, that was how the Kyoraku saw it.

Most of the pride of their family had always gone into Shunsui's older brother, the man who seemed to have everything in order. Where Shunsui was lax and lazy, his brother was focused and hard-working. Early on Shunsui learned that, regardless of what he did, his parents would still compare him to his brother; that he would never be that good in their eyes.

While Shunsui tried his best to remain unbothered by his parents, especially after he moved out of the Kyoraku home and into the Soul Reaper Academy dorms, they often plagued his thoughts. Whenever Shunsui would get into trouble - which only really happened when he and Shuriken became a bit too adventurous or they had a prank go horribly wrong - he could expect to find a scolding letter from his parents in the mail a few days down the line.

Jushiro had tried only once to mend the bond between Shunsui and his family, but after seeing that he'd done much more harm than good, the white-haired male dropped the subject. Shunsui was grateful for that.

Because of his status and the women that so willingly presented themselves to him, Shunsui struggled to properly understand how relationships worked. The man put so much of himself into showering those he cared for with love - whether it be platonic or otherwise - that you would expect him to be a natural at such things.

However, Shunsui had never really had a true romantic relationship. It sounded silly on paper, considering who he was, but that didn't change the truth of the matter. There were women that Shunsui had referred to as his girlfriends over the years, sure, but none of them had ever really captured his heart or his attention. More often than not they were sexy little things that Shunsui wanted to fuck more than once, ones who aimed to marry into money; Shunsui preferred his girlfriends to be like that, really.

If they only cared about his money or his status, then they didn't care about him. And if they didn't care about him, then Shunsui didn't have to feel bad whenever he eventually broke their heart. For all of his philanderer ways, though, Shunsui did love women, and seeing them cry wasn't a pleasant sight. He was usually pretty good at getting an idea of who would take a romantic interest in him after their first night together, and those gals, no matter how tempting they were, were always sent on their way once they were finished.

Those girls had love in their hearts and if he were to lead them on, to make them believe that he was interested in anything other than their bodies, Shunsui knew that he'd be fucking their mind and heart up instead of just their pussy. That sort of thing, Shunsui believed, should be avoided if at all possible.

In short, Shunsui was best at approaching women who meant nothing to him. There was really only one woman who he struggled to make a true advance on, no matter how much he willed himself onward. The woman whom he had unwillingly given his own heart, despite knowing that - for the longest time - romance was the last thing on her mind.

Shunsui had made a mistake. He had taken far too long to confess his feelings for his love, and because of that, he was left in the dust. A shell of the man he'd once been.